Pediatric Neurologist joins Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine

Alcy Torres, MD, will join Boston Medical Center (BMC)’s department of pediatric neurology and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) as an assistant professor of pediatrics on Aug. 1. Torres, who has been named one of the city’s best pediatric neurologists by Boston Magazine and other organizations, has dedicated his life to pediatric neurology with an emphasis on serving the bilingual community.

Torres will undertake multiple initiatives upon joining BMC to strengthen the hospital’s presence in pediatric neurology and in the Hispanic community. Most importantly, he will open the hospital’s first open-access clinic for pediatric neurology, which will enable more children with head injuries and headaches to be seen more quickly.

Second, Torres will pioneer an international clinic as well as direct Hispanic services to offer additional care for the Spanish-speaking population. “We want to offer bilingual services so that our Spanish speaking patients can speak with a physician in their native language,” he said. He will also work to make materials about neurological disorders, injuries and concussions available in Spanish.

Torres, who has an international following of patients from South America, also will work to attract more international patients to BMC.  “Utilizing my established professional networks and continuing to publish and lecture internationally, I will work to strengthen BMC’s presence in pediatric neurology throughout the world and present the international program and its exceptional services to the populations it has been established to care for,” he said.

He also plans to establish the city’s first specifically bilingual Pediatric Neurology clinic at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center as well as clinics serving the Lawrence-Lowell and Fitchburg regions.

Torres is well known for his work on the diagnosis and treatment of PANDAS syndrome (Pediatrics Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections), an uncommon, but important, neurological disorder that involves rapid onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder caused by group A streptococcal infections.

Torres graduated summa cum laude from Central University School of Medicine in Ecuador in 1990. He completed residencies in pediatrics and neonatology at Carlos Andrade Marin Hospital in Ecuador and another in pediatrics at Miami Children’s Hospital. He continued with a pediatric neurology residency at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he remained on staff as a full-time faculty member for 12 years.

Torres has written nearly 40 peer-reviewed publications, reviews and book chapters, and is an editor of the Journal of Child Neurology.